Oannes rising from the abyss. Artwork

My journey with the art world stems back to my roots. I hail from a family of creatives and have built on their knowledge and experience whether it be painting on canvas, sculpting an object, illustration which my eldest sister trained in, or even building our own family home. I have been blessed with success from an early age - I first attained recognition at the age of eight for a painting of my favourite teddy bear in a art competition in my local community. Throughout school I was passionate about art class and at the age of 18, I was awarded the Art Trophy in my Senior School for highest effort and achievement. I studied Graphic Design at University as part of my further education and then spent a year travelling to broaden my experiences and outlook on life. On my return to the United Kingdom, I set up a small sculpting business from my family's garage and successfully sold sculptures in sandstone through a local Garden Centre, selling five pieces within six months. However, my other passion in life being winter sports, took me to New Zealand for an intensive course in ski instruction which allowed me to gain employment with a ski team in Panorama, Canada. I met my wife here in Panorama and, as the saying goes, the rest is history. We now reside in Panorama Mountain Village with our two lovely children, Jacob and Ayla. Living in Canada has created a love of the outdoors, nature and wild animals, which has inspired me to paint local landscapes and the animals that inhabit this vast country. There are also many artists that have inspired me, in particular Rembrandt with his beautiful use of light and Peter Paul Rubens for his complex compositions. Recently the work of Robert Bateman, Francoise Neilly and Vincent Fantauzzo have greatly impressed me. My artistic style started from from the inspiration that the great views of Canadian landscapes gave me and then developed onto the resident wildlife. The more paintings I do, the more I try to portray the personality of the subject or area. It's a continuous learning curve when painting a canvas and it excites me to thrive to attain the product of expression. Colour is a huge part of my work, contrast and definition being key parts of the final component. I feel blessed that I have been fortunate to sell my work providing an income from a true passion.